


Transience

by notjustmom



Series: The Mentalist [6]
Category: The Mentalist
Genre: Alternate Universe, Episode: s01e16 Bloodshot, F/M, Fluffy Angst, Love Confessions, Mostly Fluff, angsty fluff, first time mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-09
Updated: 2019-11-12
Packaged: 2021-01-25 20:20:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21362104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notjustmom/pseuds/notjustmom
Summary: An AU where Lisbon and Jane are together when the explosion blinds him temporarily in the first season.
Relationships: Patrick Jane/Teresa Lisbon
Series: The Mentalist [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1526000
Comments: 26
Kudos: 100





	1. Chapter 1

“Jane?” She dropped down next to him, and carefully checked him over, noting just a couple of scratches, but he’d been thrown in the air, his head had bounced on the minivan after he’d been thrown in the air by the blast. “Patrick, talk to me. Please?”

“I’m fine. Lisbon, there’s just something, something’s in my eyes.” She watched him blink and then open his eyes wider, as if - no. He reached up for her and whispered, “Lisbon, Teresa. I can’t see, I can’t see, Lisbon!”

“You’re okay, Jane, you’ll be okay - we need some help over here, we need an ambulance, now!”

“Lisbon, don’t, just don’t go away, don’t leave me -” 

She started, after all these years, she had never heard sheer panic in his voice before, he was honestly afraid she’d leave his side. “I’m not going anywhere, Jane.” She pulled out her phone, and was about to swear at someone when she heard the sirens coming closer. “You’re going to be fine, Jane.” She felt tears spring to her eyes as his fingers felt for any tells in her face, and she leaned closer and kissed him before anyone came to pull them apart. “It will be okay, Jane, I promise.”

“Ma’am, we need you to move away from him, let us help him.”

“Yeah, all right, alright, I’m moving, just -”

“Lisbon?”

“I’m right here, Jane, just let them help, don’t fight them. I’m going to ride with you - Cho. Cho - I’m riding to the hospital with Jane - I need you to be in charge, I need you to -”

“I’ll get on identifying the owner of the van and the victim - is it possible this was a suicide?”

“No,” Jane answered from the stretcher. “I looked in his eyes, he was a man who definitely did not want to be where he was - duct tape over his mouth, ‘ur next’ on his forehead, definitely a murder.”

“Thank you, Cho.”

“Yeah, no problem, Boss.”

“Lisbon -”

She climbed into the back of the ambulance and sat next to him, taking his hand, she was relieved he couldn’t see her face for once, as she saw her reflection on the wall, and shivered. “I’m here, Jane.” They had covered his eyes, a precaution they said, to keep any debris from making things worse. But to not be able to look into his eyes - his beautiful blue eyes -

She sighed as he pulled his hand from her grasp and found her shoulder, then slowly worked his way up until his fingers patted her lips, and she had to laugh. “There’s my girl.” Was it really only hours earlier, that he had stared down into her eyes and smiled as she gasped when he entered her for the first time, finally, and tears rolled down her face, then he had moved, slowly at first, taking his time as he watched her face, catching every nuance, then responding exactly as she needed and wanted, as if they had been this way for years, not mere minutes. Somehow she was able to focus enough to nod then whisper, “more…” He had wanted to call in ‘well’, but she had needed life to go on unchanged, as if it hadn’t just been turned inside out and sideways. They could have been at home asleep….”Lisbon?”

“Sorry, I’m so sorry, Jane.”

“Not your fault, Lisbon. I’m so tired. Just don’t go anywhere, Teresa, just need a little nap. Be right as rain.” 

She picked up his hand again, and pressed his wrist against her mouth, feeling his strong pulse on her lips reminded her that he was alive, just sleeping, just resting, and she gave a brief thought to how he would change if - no - it had to be temporary, had to be. She couldn’t imagine not seeing the world through his eyes, couldn’t fathom going on crime scenes without him, telling her everything from one glance, everything she had missed- everything… she choked on a sob, and felt him shiver and he let out a whimper as they bumped over railroad tracks. “Shhh, you’re okay, Jane, everything will be okay, I promise.”


	2. Chapter 2

“Why can’t I see, Doc?”

“Technical term for it is cortical visual impairment, a result of hitting your head. It is temporary, Mr. Jane. We’ll just have to wait and see.”

“Great. Good. A comedian. Lisbon?”

“I’m here, right here.” She watched the frustration in his face, and wished she could do something to help him, but he was afraid, and she knew from their shared history that he could turn on a dime when pushed into a corner, and she understood all too well what the loss of his sight meant even on a temporary basis.

“Shouldn’t you be back at the CBI?”

“Nope. I put Cho in charge.”

“Lisbon.”

“Do you want me to leave?”

“No. It's just I’m not good company right now.”

“Jane.”

“I’m not, I’m not even the same person I was last night -”

“Yes, you are.”

“Lisbon.”

She slipped off her shoes then whispered, “slide over some.”

“What are you -?” He curled onto his side and sighed contentedly as he felt her behind him, and as her arm draped over his hip, he rumbled quietly, “talk to me, Teresa. Tell me, tell me something I don’t know about you.”

“You know everything about me that matters, Jane.”

“What did you want to be when you were a kid?”

“You’ll laugh.”

“Maybe.”

“A ballerina.”

He patted her hands and mumbled sleepily, “I think you would have been a beautiful ballerina, Teresa. Sorry -”

She pressed a kiss between his shoulder blades and his hands tightened around hers, then released as he drifted off to sleep. She knew he would be safe here, they had already placed a uniform on his door, she should go to work, but she knew Cho could handle the investigation better without her, and besides, she told herself that if she left, Jane would find a way to get himself released, but more than that, she just wanted to be with him. She closed her eyes and tucked herself tighter around him and followed him into a deep sleep.

“Lisbon!”

She shot up and was surprised to find the room was dark. They had slept for hours. Then she considered how little sleep they’d had the night before. She laid back down next to him and realized he was shivering, the room was cold, but this wasn’t from the temperature of the room. “Lisbon?”

“I’m here.”

“Why can’t I see?”

Right. Memory loss had been possible. Damn. “There was an explosion in the parking lot at the CBI. You were too close and hit your head.”

“Temporary?”

“Yeah. That’s what the doctors say.”

“Why aren’t you at work?”

Damn. Did he forget? Oh, please. “I thought -”

“You thought if you left me here on my own, I’d get myself discharged.”

Usually she would just answer a non-question like this with an easy roll of her eyes, but he couldn’t see that, so she had to answer, “Duh?”

“This was directed at me, not just the poor bugger who was blown to smithereens, I need to -” he stopped and rolled over to face her. “You were thinking I had forgotten about last night.”

“Maybe.”

“Lisbon. You have no idea what last night meant to me, what you mean to me. I'll make you a deal. I’ll stay here until tomorrow morning, and then you can take me back to work with you, and I’ll just stay on the couch. No excitement whatsoever, I promise.”

“Deal.” She kissed him lightly and felt him shudder under her fingertips.

“Teresa.”

“Jane.”

“Damn, where is a ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign when you need one?” He lifted the edge of her shirt and let his hand slide over her skin. She closed her eyes and sighed as his fingers slowly traced an old scar - “tell me?”

“Rookie year SFPD. Dark alley. Stupid.”

“And this?”

“Appendicitis. I was 8.”

She shivered as his fingers moved slowly downward, and she took a breath as he stopped, then brought his hand up to her face again, and traced her lips with a single trembling finger, then moved closer to kiss her, first her forehead, then the tip of her nose, which made her giggle, and he smiled. “You giggle. All this time, and I never knew. So much I don’t know about you, even now.”

“We have all the time in the world.”

“Promise?” His voice sounded uncertain, and small for once, and as she wrapped her arms around him, she hoped he understood everything she wanted to tell him in that single embrace.

“I promise, Jane.”


	3. Chapter 3

She woke up to the nurse doing her morning rounds, and she whispered, “how is he?”

“Within normal parameters.”

Lisbon rolled her eyes towards Jane and shook her head. “I think he would take issue with your assessment. I don’t think he’s ever existed ‘within normal parameters’, at least not as long as I’ve known him.”

The nurse offered her a smile and nodded, “yeah, I know the type, and I've seen you guys in here before. Honestly, I’ve seen this before. He’ll get his sight back, he just needs to rest, and try to -”

“Avoid excitement,” grumbled the voice between them. “I know. I know.”

“How are we feeling, Mr. Jane?”

“_We_ are fine, but _I_ need some tea and eggs, and from personal experience I know neither of those things exist in this building. Lisbon?”

Lisbon shot an apologetic look at the nurse, and she shrugged sympathetically. “I completely agree, Mr. Jane. Agent Lisbon, I will make sure those discharge papers are ready as soon as possible.”

“Thank you.” She waited until the nurse had left the room, then placed her hand on Jane’s cheek and whispered, “I know you’re frustrated and afraid right now, remember I love you, no matter what -” 

“Say that again?” His voice was quietly surprised in a way she’d never heard before.

“Say - oh. Damn.” Well, it was the truth, it had been the truth for as long as she could remember, “I love you, Jane. I didn’t mean to tell you now, it’s not that I didn’t want you to know, I just didn’t want you to think I’m telling you out of pity -” She sighed as he began to smile at her, that all-knowing smile that drove her crazy at times, but at the moment, it reminded her that he was still there. “I love you, but try not to be a pain in the ass today, hmm?”

He reached up and felt her face, then whispered, “I’ve always wanted to know what your smile felt like. Love you, Lisbon. Love you too.”


End file.
